Duh and Rupert's hooves

Today was day 3 of putting stuff on Rupert's thrush and I can already tell a difference.  The "butt crack" between the heel bulbs is closing and the thrush smell has lessened. Being consistent about using thrush products works - duh!

I've used Coppertox before but the smell makes me sick and Listerine doesn't work except to make hooves smell minty fresh. I have a recipe for some homemade stuff but haven't tried it yet. Right now we are using Cowboy Magic thrush killer that I bought last year and never used. So far, so good.

Andrea is coming out Monday to trim hooves and possibly cast Rupert's fronts. He has a mechanical separation that isn't getting better.

This is his left front from October 2, 2011 which is about 5 weeks after his very first barefoot trim:

This if from December 17, 2011:

The separation does appear to be getting bigger.

The way he stands and walks has really affected the shape of his hoof.  According to Andrea, "When he lands, he is landing and breaking over at that spot where the flaring is occurring, which is causing the mechanical separation issue. He also stands with weight more on the outside of his foot, causing another mechanical issue". 

 

Poor baby is pigeon toed, has a club foot, and pronates badly. Casting should make a difference and if not, we have lots of other options that don't include nailing a shoe on his hoof.